Disclaimer – As always
A/N – Thanks to Sandy Toes for the coax to make me to finally write this one. I've had a very similar idea in mind for a while now, but I just needed that little extra push…
Fire and Ice
The Jumper soared above the mountain range on P9U-175. The snow-capped peaks gave way to valleys filled with slowly creeping glaciers.
Rodney sighed as he took in the spectacle and then returned his gaze to the computer laid out on his lap. He shook his head, "There's nothing here, unless you're a fan of landscape photography."
John pointed at an enormous glacier as he hovered the Jumper a short distance away, "Or a Geographer."
"Hmm," Rodney continued to type on his computer, "Well, we've got some readings for them to analyse before we send out another team. If I can find anyone who's interested enough in this stuff."
John smirked, "Just because it's not tech and you can't make it work for you…"
Rodney snapped, "Oh, yes, because who would want to study the movement of ice. Really useful…"
John shrugged, "Could be. Seeing what might happen on Earth in the future."
Rodney scowled at him until he saw that Sheppard was laughing, "We should stop off and do some skiing."
Rodney looked horrified and quickly returned his gaze to the tablet before Sheppard got anymore 'ideas.' He typed on the screen and suddenly he narrowed his eyes and uttered, "Oh."
John was flying the Jumper in between the mountains and enjoying himself as he viewed the breathtaking sweeping mountain sides and beauty of the landscape. He turned to Rodney and asked, "What?"
McKay looked across at him nervously, "There's a build up thermal energy underground inside several of the mountains."
The Jumper had sensed Sheppard's hesitation and sudden doubt and it was hovering close to the ground near the summit of one of the mountains.
Rodney's eyes tracked feverishly along the lines of text and flashing red lights which had now appeared on his tablet. He cried, "Get us out of here!"
John shifted in his seat and tensed as he spun the Jumper around and started to fly it away from the mountains.
He was too slow though and the nearest mountain suddenly exploded.
The inertial dampeners saved the occupants from being thrown as the innocent looking mountain turned into an active volcano and blasted fragments of burning hot ash and rock sideways into the craft.
The hull of the Jumper smoked and dents crushed the metal as the ash started to erode through. Sheppard shouted at McKay, "Shields?!" as he tried and failed to initialise them.
Rodney typed away very quickly and tried to avoid looking out of the windscreen where the only thing visible was a cloud of hot debris and dust as the Jumper was buffeted to the side while John tried to regain control.
He said in a squeaky and frightened voice, "The emitters are too badly damaged!"
"And the engines? I can't gain any altitude to get us away."
Rodney frowned at the tablet, "No. The ash has completely clogged them up. We're going to crash!"
John shook his head, "What can you give me?"
Rodney grimaced as the heat began to melt through the hull and the temperature inside the Jumper rapidly rose. His hands were frantic as he desperately tried to reroute the systems. He got out of his seat and ran into the rear compartment.
He pulled down the crystal tray and coughed as he inhaled some boiling ashes that had seeped in through a hull breach. He swapped a few of them around, but all the systems were too badly damaged and he could not find anywhere to route the power. A large hole suddenly formed in the rear hatch and molten rocks pelted him.
Rodney cried out as they burned through his clothes and ignited some of the material.
John was fighting to control the Jumper as it continued to spin down and out of control towards the ground in one of the valleys. He landed it heavily and was pleased to note that they were now out of the ash cloud. As soon as he touched down, the power completely cut out.
The pained sounds coming from the rear compartment galvanised him into action. He dashed through the central bulkhead and found Rodney writhing on the deck as the volcanic rocks and ash continued to burn him where they had worked their way through and under his clothes.
John rapidly helped him strip out of the smoking material and burnt his own hands a few times when he came across some red hot debris. Rodney gritted his teeth and tried to stay still to help Sheppard while he worked.
John tossed the clothes into a pile near the rear hatch and brushed off one of the benches so that Rodney could sit down. He critically examined Rodney's trembling form and located the worst of the burns and bruising, but it was difficult as there were so many red and sore bleeding patches all over his body.
He used water to clean the dirt from Rodney's raw skin and used some special burns bandages from the med kit to bind up as much of Rodney as he could.
McKay grimaced and furrowed his brow as Sheppard gently wound a bandage all the way around his abdomen and tracked it up to cover his chest.
John gave him a lopsided smile and said, "Hey, you look like a mummy."
Rodney looked down at himself and tried to laugh when he saw that all his limbs and most of his torso were swathed and covered in white bandages. He flinched violently and cried out as his burnt skin stretched. He turned his watering eyes to look out of the window in the cockpit and suddenly he asked in panic, "Uh, can this Jumper still fly?" His voice was hoarse and weak, like he had a really bad sore throat.
John narrowed his eyes at Rodney as he tucked the end of the bandage in just beneath McKay's throat. He handed Rodney a jumpsuit and said, "See if you can get into that, save my eyes…"
Rodney shot him an indignant and hurt look. He then slowly and carefully stood up to try and pull the garment on. John left him to it and went back into the cockpit.
He quickly saw what had sent McKay into panic. They had landed in the path of a glacier. The huge brown and white mass was a few miles ahead of them, but the volcano that had exploded was right above the valley. There was a steadily creeping lava flow trickling out of the new crater as it made its way inexorably towards the frozen water. A billowing cloud of ashes was streaming out of the top of the mountain and up into the atmosphere in a huge dark column. Rocks were raining down ahead of the cloud like missiles.
After a lot of hissed curses, Rodney finally managed to pull on the jumpsuit and joined Sheppard in the cockpit. His scorched face was red raw in some places and John grabbed some more bandages and cleaned the wounds before he considered wrapping Rodney's entire head in bandages. He muttered, "Uhm…" as he held the final roll of gauze and looked at the blood leaking out of the burns and tracking down Rodney's pain lined face.
"Oh, give it here!" McKay croaked, as he grabbed the roll out of John's hand and proceeded to do exactly as Sheppard had thought. He wrapped the bandage around his head and left tiny gaps so that he could still breathe, see and open his mouth.
John shook his head and muttered, "The mummy…" as he focused his attention back on getting the Jumper to power up before they were overwhelmed by floodwater when the lava melted the glacier.
Rodney elected to remain standing so that he did not have to press his burns against the chair. He slowly shuffled into the rear compartment to minimise movement, but it still made him tremble in agony. He coughed harshly and winced as his chest rattled.
John frowned in concern, "Hey, Rodney, you didn't breathe in any of that crap, did you?"
Rodney wheezed a little as he drew in a deep and shaky breath. He said in a breathless whisper, "Maybe, a little bit."
John's eyes widened, "Okay, well…" he got up and pulled the oxygen tank and mask out of the med kit and placed them on the bench next to McKay who was painfully reaching up and studying the crystal tray. He said to the well wrapped scientist, "If it gets too much, take a drag on that."
Rodney nodded gratefully and returned to his work as John went back into the cockpit.
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Rodney sucked a noisy breath through the mask and closed his eyes as he placed it over his face. He lowered his hand, but kept hold of the mask as he prodded the crystal tray with his other hand. The lava was now dangerously close to the top of the glacier in the distance and Sheppard had so far only been able to bring up the HUD briefly before it flickered off again.
Rodney rasped fearfully, "I told you already, the engines are full of ash and…" he broke off in a coughing fit and dropped the oxygen mask as he struggled to draw breath.
John gave up on trying to boot up the unresponsive systems and ran over to Rodney, just as he crumpled down onto his knees and pitched over to the side.
John only just caught him in time and supported him so that he remained sitting upright with his arm around Rodney's shoulders. McKay's breathing was shallow and laboured and his brow was furrowed as his chest rattled painfully. John grabbed the oxygen mask from the floor and held it over Rodney's bandaged face until his breathing slowed and evened out a little.
McKay opened his eyes after a few seconds and spoke through the mask in a painful wheeze, "I can't find anymore power. Everything's too badly damaged. We're not due back… for a few hours so no-one's… coming to rescue us. We're going to die."
John frowned at him as he closed his eyes in resignation, "No we're not, McKay."
Rodney laughed and shook as his burnt lungs reminded him of the damage, even though he had the oxygen mask on. His voice cracked as he spoke, "Unless you can fix it, Colonel. Last time I checked, I was the genius… and you were the flyboy."
John smirked, "Maybe… what about the shields?"
Rodney tilted his head back as John continued to use his arm to hold him in a sitting position on the deck. He reached up and replaced John's hand over the oxygen mask. With Sheppard's help, he stood up onto unstable legs and used his tablet to check the systems.
He sighed, which sent him into another bout of choking which soon had him doubled over in agony. John had to rescue the oxygen mask once again and clamped it over Rodney's face. He strapped the band of the mask over the back of Rodney's head and grimaced when he saw that blood was now visible on Rodney's lips and inside the mask.
He asked incredulously, "Seriously, how much did you inhale?"
Rodney was weakening as he struggled to breathe and grated out, "I don't know. A good lungful?"
"The shields?"
Rodney closed his eyes and straightened up. He looked at the tablet and mumbled, "There's one emitter… active, but barely."
"Can you use it to protect the Jumper?"
"You're kidding, right?" Rodney's chest hitched as he inhaled a slow breath, "It certainly won't stop us… from drowning or freezing in the meltwater… which is imminent and inevitable."
He looked off to the side and said sadly, "I wonder whether we'll die… of hypothermia or drown first, hmm…"
John frowned, "There must be something we can use!"
Rodney rested a hand against his chest as he steeled himself and spluttered as he tried not to choke again. John grasped his shoulder and suddenly an idea came to him, "What about the drones?"
Rodney narrowed his eyes at him as he leant forwards again, "Blow it up? You military types are… all the same."
"No, the power supply, McKay!"
"Oh, yes." Rodney's eyes suddenly sparkled beneath the bandages and his voice became quieter and scratchier as he spoke, "Not enough to fix the engines, but if I can interface them… with the shield system, we may be able to ride it out until… Atlantis realises we're late for our dial in."
John guided him to sit down before he fell and patted his back gently as Rodney hunched over and closed his eyes.
The lava hit the top of the glacier and was slowed by the sudden cooling influence it came across. Steam billowed and hissed into the atmosphere, but most of the ice melted and flowed out from the front of the glacier in a river that grew in size with every passing second.
Sheppard pulled up the deck plating and helped Rodney remove the tiny batteries from inside each drone. McKay hastily connected them together and plugged them into the control crystal tray.
The water reached the Jumper and was soon lapping around their feet as it leaked in through the many hull breaches. Both men shivered violently as the freezing water soaked their shoes and the cold crept up their legs.
Rodney was still standing up and hunched his shoulders in the cold as he mumbled, "At least I can't feel the… burns on my legs anymore." His hands shook so much he could barely keep them still enough to type on his tablet and complete the rerouting program he was writing.
Rodney's teeth chattered together and his panting breaths were now audibly grating in his damaged lungs. He choked and furrowed his brow as more blood came from his mouth into the mask. He lifted it away from his face and wiped his lips with the back of his hand. He stopped moving and his frightened eyes widened in shock when he saw how red and bright the blood was on his hand. He turned to Sheppard and held up his hand in fear, "Oh, that's not so good. I'm probably going to… die before we're rescued anyway, aren't I?"
John set his expression and pressed his lips in a grim line, "Just get the shield working, McKay."
Rodney gently lowered the mask over his face again and grimaced as the chilly numbness reached his knees and he sank down onto the bench. Sheppard joined him and they both trembled in the deepening icy water leaking into the craft.
McKay's eyes drifted closed and John shook his shoulder to wake him, "Come on, Rodney! You can sleep later."
He steeled himself again and gasped short snatches of air into his lungs in the cold and agony of his abused chest. He screwed up his face so that he could barely see through his squinted eyes as he finished the program and hit the 'Enter' key.
The water stopped rising, but it remained inside the Jumper. Rodney sighed through his burnt airway in relief but his whole body was shaking and John was also trying not the shiver in the cold.
McKay listed over to one side and threatened to fall off the bench and go under the water, which was lapping dangerously close to the top of the seat. John held Rodney's shoulders and stood up to guide him down onto his side as he laid him out on the bench.
He looked out of the front windscreen and saw that the water level was now visibly rising. It soon went above the top of the screen and it suddenly got very dark inside the Jumper.
John grabbed some torches and placed them around the rear compartment. His breath was coming in shivering pants, which misted in front of his face, as his legs and feet felt like he was hauling blocks of ice around. He grabbed some blankets and removed Rodney's shoes and cut away the soaked portion of his jumpsuit. He wrapped the injured scientist up in all of the blankets and then he went over and sat on the other bench. He drew his legs out of the water and laid back himself as he waited for the rescue they were relying on for their survival.
He fought for as long as he could, but his eyes soon drifted closed and he passed out in the cold air inside the Jumper.
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Carson stood between Rodney and John's beds in the infirmary as he spoke to Teyla and Ronon. He said slightly angrily, "Both of them damn nearly died. Rodney from his burns and severely burnt lungs and John from hypothermia as his stubborn nature won through. He helped Rodney, but not himself in the cold."
Teyla looked at both men. Rodney had an oxygen mask over his face and many bandages covered his body to protect his skin while the burns healed. She saw that his eyes were open narrowly as he peeked out from beneath the bandages over his face, but he did not try to speak. John and Rodney both had thick blankets over them to counteract the extreme cold they had endured while awaiting rescue.
She said, "Thank you, Dr Beckett. It is a shame we were not there to help them."
Carson shook his head, "Aye, Lass, but then I would now have four patients to care for."
Ronon nodded as he walked away and then pulled up a chair and sat in between the beds with Teyla.
Rodney twitched and shivered and then suddenly his eyes snapped wide open. Teyla gently took hold of his bandaged hand and asked quietly, "How are you feeling?"
Rodney laid his other hand over his chest and furrowed his brow. His voice was hoarse and painful to listen to as it echoed dully in the oxygen mask, "Like my chest is full of acid."
Teyla frowned and squeezed his hand, "You did well, Rodney. We came back from the mainland and were able to join the rescue party."
Ronon nodded, "Used that shield trick Zelenka worked out."
Rodney's eyes drifted closed and he whispered harshly, "Hope you got some good photos…"
John was listening from the next bed over and said offhand, "Well, we can always go back and check it out. See if there have been any more minor explosions since we left."
Rodney took a shallow breath to minimise his pain and said in an incredulous, but weak voice, "Minor?"
Ronon patted his leg and said, "I expect our rescue Jumper logs are intact, McKay. Looked like half the range had gone up before we pulled you out."
Rodney's eyes were fully closed and he muttered a sleepy, "Oh…" before he fell asleep again.
John had his head turned and joined the others as they watched and waited for Rodney to get better. He did not really need to still be in the bed, but Carson had not forced him to leave yet.
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A/N – Next up, 'The Black Swan'